UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  agricultural  experiment  Station 

College  of  agriculture  benj.  ide  wheeler,  president 

BERKELEY     CALIFORNIA  Thomas  Forsyth  Hunt,  Dean  and  Director 


CIRCULAR  No.  96 


PORK  PRODUCTION. 

By  J.  I.  Thompson. 

California  is  producing  only  one  hog  for  every  three  people  in  the 
State.  She  is  consuming  more  than  three  times  that  many.  Approxi- 
mately forty  carloads  of  pork  products,  chiefly  hams,  bacon  and  lard,, 
and  twenty-five  cars  of  live  hogs  are  shipped  here  from  other  states 
every  week  to  supply  the  demand.  Not  only  do  we  need  more  hogs 
to  supply  the  market  demand,  but  at  the  rate  dairying  is  increasing 
more  hogs  are  needed  to  consume  the  by-products  from  these  dairies. 

Ours  is  a  meat  consuming  people  and  always  will  be.  The  hog  is  in 
a  list  all  by  himself  as  an  economical  producer  of  edible  material. 
From  one  hundred  pounds  of  dry  matter  a  sheep  will  produce  about. 
2.6  pounds  of  edible  meat  and  a  steer  2.8  pounds,  while  a  hog  from 
this  same  amount  of  feed  will  produce  15.6  pounds  of  meat  suitable 
for  human  food. 

The  hog  differs  from  other  classes  of  stock  in  his  physical  make  up 
and  his  ability  to  handle  bulky  food.  The  capacity  of  his  stomach  is 
only  about  65  per  cent  of  that  of  the  sheep,  or  for  one  hundred  pounds 
of  live  weight  only  about  33  per  cent  as  much,  while  compared  with 
a  cow  his  stomach  capacity  is  only  8  per  cent.  These  figures  readily 
indicate  that  the  feed  for  the  hog  must  necessarily  be  much  more  con- 
centrated than  that  of  the  sheep  and  cow. 

The  markets  here  desire  a  hog  of  about  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds  live  weight  and  will  pay  a  relatively  higher  price  for  hogs 
properly  fed  than  for  those  improperly  produced,  provided  they  are  of 
the  type  and  finish  that  will  dress  out  a  large  per  cent  of  desirable 
cuts. 

The  younger  the  pig  the  more  economical  his  gains,  so  it  pays  to 
get  him  up  to  market  weight  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  The  re- 
ports of  various  experiment  stations  show  that  pigs  under  fifty  pounds 
gain  weekly  16  per  cent  of  their  body  weight,  pigs  under  one  hundred 
pounds  7.4  per  cent,  under  two  hundred  pounds  5  per  cent  and  under 
three  hundred  pounds  only  3.8  per  cent.  Also  that  a  fifty  pound  pig 
uses  only  18  per  cent  of  his  feed  for  maintenance,  leaving  82  per  cent 
for  gains.  A  one  hundred  pound  pig  has  left  for  gains  75  per  cent 
and  a  two  hundred  pound  pig  only  64  per  cent  of  the  feed  that  he 
consumes. 

The  smaller  pig  eats  more  for  his  size  than  the  larger  one  and  re- 
quires less  for  maintenance.  Therefore,  the  only  conclusion  is  that  it 
pays  to  push  them  along  rapidly. 

(1) 


—  2  — 

If  a  pig  were  made  to  weigh  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds 
at  eight  months  of  age,  he  would  have  eonsumed  for  maintenance 
alone  approximately  two  hundred  seventy-five  pounds  of  food  of  the 
equivalent  of  wheat  middlings.  If  he  did  not  reach  the  same  weight 
until  fourteen  months  of  age,  he  would  have  consumed  for  mainte- 
nance alone  approximately  forty  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  of  food 
the  equivalent  of  wheat  middlings. 

The  amount  digested  over  and  above  that  used  for  maintenance 
represents  the  amount  available  for  gains.  Therefore,  the  pig  that 
eats  the  most,  provided  he  makes  the  proper  use  of  it,  is  the  most 
economical. 

There  are  three  breeds  of  lard  hogs  and  two  of  bacon  hogs  gen- 
erally distributed  throughout  this  State  and  all  of  them  seem  to  fit 
quite  well  into  the  environment.  The  lard  breeds  are  Berkshire,  Duroc- 
Jersey  and  Poland-China;  the  bacon  breeds,  Tamworths  and  Yorkshires. 
Breeders  ordinarily  succeed  best  with  the  breed  they  like  best.  Any 
breed  will  undoubtedly  give  more  uniform  results  than  a  mixture  of 
two  or  more  breeds. 

In  the  selection  of  sows  for  the  breeding  herd  particular  attention 
should  be  paid  to  confirmation,  constitution  and  breediness  or  fem- 
ininity. Choose  those  showing  superior  depth,  width  and  uniformity, 
with  length  in  proportion.  Insist  on  a  deep,  broad  chest  with  no  per- 
ceptible drop  back  of  the  shoulders,  with  enough  bone  to  carry  the 
weight  readily  and  sufficient  quality  to  give  an  attractive  appearance. 
Old  sows  produce  larger,  stronger  pigs,  and  more  of  them  than  young 
sows,  so  they  should  not  be  sold  so  long  as  they  breed  regularly  and 
are  not  too  fat,  heavy  or  deaf  to  make  good  mothers. 

Six  strong,  vigorous  pigs  to  the  litter  are  more  desirable  than  eight 
or  nine  inferior  ones.  Whether  the  number  is  large  or  small  they 
should  be  kept  growing  rapidly  until  they  are  ready  for  market. 

There  is  no  more  desirable  feed  for  hogs  of  any  age  than  alfalfa 
pasture,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  available  here  for  about  nine  months  of 
the  year  is  a  most  important  item.  As  a  single  feed,  it  is  not  sufficient 
for  growing  or  fattening  hogs,  but  should  be  supplemented  from  a 
list  of  concentrates,  among  which  are  barley,  corn,  wheat,  shorts,  mid- 
dlings, bran,  oil  meal,  soy-bean  meal,  tankage,  skim  milk,  beets,  and 
pumpkins. 


